Paragraph 1:21–22
1:21a
Meanwhile: In this verse Luke told what the people in the courtyard were doing while Zechariah was in the temple. Languages have different ways to connect events that happened at the same time. In English, such events are often connected with the word Meanwhile (as in the Berean Standard Bible). The Greek text uses the common conjunction that is often translated as “and.” Another way to translate this is to focus on the place where the other event happened. For example:
Outside, the people were still waiting for Zechariah
Use a natural way in your language to indicate that the events in this verse happened at the same time when Zechariah was in the temple.
the people were waiting for Zechariah: The phrase the people refers to the worshipers who were mentioned in 1:10b. They were standing outside the temple praying to God. Zechariah was inside the temple, and they were waiting for him to come out. Refer to them here in a clear way in your language.
1:21b
wondering why he took so long in the temple: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as wondering indicates that the people were “surprised” or “amazed.” For example:
and were surprised that he was staying so long in the Temple (New Century Version)
Zechariah stayed inside the temple longer than other priests usually did. The people were surprised at the delay and tried to think of what might be causing him to be late.
temple: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as temple refers to the innermost building of the temple in Jerusalem. This is the same word as in 1:9b. See temple, Meaning 2, in the Glossary.
© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.